Green is working, say Hackney campaigners in call for eco-jobs

Volunteers from Friends of the Earth Hackney and Tower Hamlets outside Hackney Town Hall telling the Government it must act to create more green jobs. Photograph: Hackney Friends of the Earth

Had you been passing along Mare Street on a sunny Saturday a few weeks ago, you might have seen some Friends of the Earth volunteers supporting a banner that read, ‘Green is Working’.

Those who know their history or work in marketing might even have noticed a passing resemblance to the famous 1970s Saatchi & Saatchi ‘Labour isn’t working’ advert for the Conservative Party.

Our queue of green professionals wasn’t quite as long as the one in the original poster, nor was it as big as the London-wide demonstration supported by Deborah Meaden from Dragon’s Den. But we see plenty of evidence of the ‘green economy’ in Hackney – from businesses that sell local and organic food or fit home insulation and renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, to businesses who help us save water.

This pattern is replicated across the country. A report from the Green Alliance suggests the low carbon and environmental sector has continued to grow whilst broader economic activity slows, stating: “Nearly a million people are now employed in providing low carbon and environmental goods and services, outstripping employment in other sectors such as telecoms and our motor industry.”

Amid continuing economic difficulty, the Chancellor, George Osborne, has announced many initiatives to support economic growth, such as a targeted tax regime to help the shale gas industry, and a Growth and Infrastructure Bill that will give the Government wide-ranging powers to take planning decisions out of the hands of local authorities.

Most recently, the Government has announced the publication of the Heseltine Review, entitled ‘No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth’. Interestingly, the phrase ‘green economy’ does not appear once in the report; indeed, the word ‘green’ only appears as part of the word ‘Greenwich’.

It’s a shame the Chancellor and his advisors are not interested in the green economy, but local people are making their voices heard, as our demonstration shows. Our message is that green is working, and that the Government must support this sector by helping to create even more green jobs.

In particular, more jobs could be created if the Chancellor does more to support renewable energy in the Energy Bill. He would have support if he did so: a Department of Energy and Climate Change survey found over three quarters of the public back renewable energy for providing our electricity, fuel and heat, while according to a recent Populus poll, 70 per cent of people in London think the current Energy Bill should give high priority to renewable energy.

To boot, a group of 50 companies and industry bodies have written to the Chancellor, calling for a 2030 carbon target for the power sector, and the CBI’s research suggests 27 per cent of economic growth in 2011 came from green industries.

So we want MPs in Hackney – Diane Abbott and Meg Hillier – to help create jobs and business opportunities in Hackney by making sure Ministers give the green light to renewable energy, and the Government resists George Osborne’s attempts to keep Britain hooked on costly foreign gas.

We’d love to hear about your green business! Contact us at kate.hand@dunelm.org.uk to tell us more.